


The Princess and Her Knight

by Nonchol



Series: Unrelated botw Oneshots [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Forbidden Love, I just really love these two, I'm a sucker for these tropes okay, Light Angst, Link's short in this one, Not Beta Read, Pre-Calamity Ganon, Secret Relationship, Sleepy Kisses, Soft Zelda, soft link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:23:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28776027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonchol/pseuds/Nonchol
Summary: Perhaps there was something to be said about the princess and her knight. There certainly would be if the nobles or court women caught them out here so late in the evening, especially if they saw the princess dressed like this outside. She wondered, not for the first time, how they would talk if she saw them sitting on her study’s balcony together with her knees flat and back pressed against the stone wall, his head resting snuggly on her lap with his golden hair splayed out, brighter than the sun and sweeter than honey.But when he smiled up at her, she knew that she couldn’t care less.-A short Pre-Calamity drabble in which Link and Zelda paint a picture of what their lives could have been.-+ Now with an additional drabble from Link's POV
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Unrelated botw Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109756
Comments: 14
Kudos: 90





	1. Courtyard Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to get back into writing w/ some botw oneshots. I didn't actually expect to write this but I started and finished it all within 2 class periods lol.  
> Writing about these two just makes me real happy, yk? I planned this to be more fluffy but there's a fair amount of light angst in some bits.  
> Hope you enjoy it anyway :)

They were not supposed to be here outside on her study's balcony this late, and certainly not this close together. Such a sight would have startled the courtwomen into fits bad enough to make them clutch their pearls and cry out at the audacity of this rugged, practically wild farmboy turner soldier lying with his head in their beloved princess's arms.  
_But would that even matter?_  
No, no it wouldn’t. Not to her. How could it, when the boy in her lap was so warm and smiling so softly, as wild and as reckless as he was.  
So if the court women did have something to say about their princess and her knight, she knew it never would matter. How could they sit and talk but never see him for who he was? If they only saw the soldier they wanted him to be and not the warm, honey-sweet, and rash farm boy that she knew, then what right did they have to speak about him? About either of them?  
But perhaps she was merely overthinking again, even now when they came out here to relax. It wouldn’t be the first time.  
So she tried to think nothing more of it and glanced back down at him. His eyes were closed, and his blonde hair sprayed about around her legs. Against the sunset, it looked like a flowery gold crown.  
She had read enough romance stories, and enough ballads and poems of forbidden love and dramatic star crossed lovers. She had read the tales of knights in shining armor who whisked imprisoned princesses away from their peril and she, despite herself, dreamed to be not the princess but the knight. She wondered what it would be like to whisk her own lover away from evil clutches and monsters and to take them to her castle where they could spend their lives together researching and experimenting to their hearts' content. As sweet and as touching as such fairy tales they were, she did not once think to compare them to this. This was different. Real and confusing and strange all the same. Slipping away from guards sounded so much easier in the ballads and poems, and stealing kisses in corridors would have been so much more romantic if she hadn't slammed her head against his in haste.  
But what did that matter in the end? His flushed and beet red blushing face was sweeter than any stolen corridor kisses, and when he'd scramble to catch her after she tripped over her dress sneaking through the hallways, his gentle hands would meet hers and she'd be left all warm and fuzzy again.  
So in the end, she had no qualms about such tedious things, not when they were together, and she could still hold him like this, and she liked to think that, if his relaxed and lazy expression meant anything, he liked it just as much.  
His eyes were closed, and every gust of wind made his golden hair wisp about. It parted around his face like a golden art frame. She wished, not for the first time with him, that she could take just one picture of him like this, just to memorize the golden boy she knew him to be and not the stoic soldier her kingdom demanded of him.  
If only we could sit like this forever.  
His voice cut through her thoughts, still just as gentle as always but loud enough to get her attention. "We can go back inside."  
It took her a moment to glance down at him and shook her head. "No." She brushed her thumb subconsciously against his forehead as she spoke. “It’s fine. I’m just...just thinking.”  
In the end, she hadn't whisked him away from a tower and a dragon. He had shown up to her study one night, ruffled and wild with his hair sticking up every which way, and he held a pouch full of Lynel guts and Hynox Toes, muttering something about her bringing them up once in passing. Before she knew it, all those strange and funny fuzzy feelings reached the boiling point and without a word, she ran up to kiss him.  
It’s almost funny how it all worked out.  
His gaze flickered ever so gently, warm, and reflecting the setting sun. His blonde hair, tousled and finally let down from its ponytail, splayed out around her legs like a golden, glowing crown, and when he tilted his head closer toward her he smiled softly.  
Sweet Hylia, what did she do to deserve him?  
But she didn’t say another word. Instead, she let her hands rest back in his hair, and before she knew it, her fingers were running through it ever so gently. He had bathed before they came out here, and now his hair was silky smooth and shimmering. It smelt like the buttercups from Impa’s garden. She could brush her fingers through it without any knots or tangles and she relished in it, knowing that by tomorrow evening it’d be a tangly, fuzzy mane all over again.  
“What are you thinking about?” His voice was buttery soft, so soft that she almost didn’t hear him, and even then she didn’t expect him to speak at all, but he was looking up at her with a gentle, quizzical expression, and his mouth was parted slightly.  
“Nothing too important,” she answered. Her hands never left his hair and he hummed with the same questioning expression that made his ears twitch like a housecat’s.  
“Are you sure?”  
She couldn’t help but laugh back, but she at least hurried to muffle it with her arm. “Where are all these questions coming from, if I may ask?"  
He shrugged, making his hair brush up against her knee, and if not for her pants it would have tickled. “Mhmm. I guess I’m just...thinking too.”  
“How wise of you.”  
His smile never once left his face. It was soft and gentle, a blink-and-you’d-miss-it kind of smile, but it was warm all the same. So undeniably Link that she’d never think to doubt it.  
“I try, princess.”  
She couldn't help but smile again. It was almost funny how the word changed. Before, it was spoken with stiffness and apprehension, but now it was teasing. He shifted his head up to her hand, where with a slight amount of effort, he could rest it in her palm. The rest of his wild hair moved with him like a silk curtain in the wind.  
"What are you thinking about?"  
He stifled back a laugh and pressed himself closer to her side.  
"My house,” he murmured, “Back in Hateno.” He did not speak of it often, but he sounded so light and airy when he did. She knew that it was a small house in the back of the village with memories of his mother and father when he was young.  
“What about it?”  
He tilted his head like a curious puppy dog. “I’m’ just thinking about-” he nudged his shoulder “-if you’d ever want to go back with me.”  
It wasn’t a realistic idea; She knew that. At least for now, such a thing was almost impossible, but his voice was so different. So soft and wishful and almost dream-like, as if he was panting a grand picture of the two of them, and what wouldn’t she give to listen to such a voice? It was rare to hear such a tone from him, but she had heard it before when the nights were cold and he'd huddle beside her in her bedsheets and whisper soft tales of his adventures out in Hyrule, be it a runaway Cucco or a ferocious Lynel.  
It was a good thing that her knight was so wonderful with storytelling.  
"Go on."  
He seemed to beam slightly under her praise as he continued, "We could stay up in my old loft and I could show you all our hens.”  
“Mhmm.” His voice was a honey-sweet lullaby, almost enough to put her to sleep. When he tilted his head back to her, it was with the same wistful smile.  
“And I can teach you how to herd our cows.” That made her move and glance back down at him.  
“Herding cows?”  
His grin was almost sheepish.  
"It's not hard," he continued. "You just have to follow them and make sure that they don't skid off. The dogs do all the work."  
All the while, her fingers never left his hair, and she never stopped combing through it. It was only when he tilted his head back at her did she even realize that she was still fidgeting with it, but his expression was so peaceful and content that she didn’t stop.  
“I suppose I’ll have to give it a try then.”  
She didn’t miss the gentle blush across his cheeks. It was enough to make her heart flutter all over again.  
"I can teach you something too, you know."  
"I don't doubt it." He tilted his head into the palm of her hand. Against the sunset, his blue eyes looked as warm and calm as the ocean, but they glowed almost heavenly at the same time, and his face gave away no hesitation or uneasiness. It was just passive, just relaxed as if the curtain of stoicism had been pulled back and revealed the simple, warm farmboy that she knew him to be.  
If only they could be like this forever. Just the two of them, together. No masks or exceptions to burden either of them.  
Isn't that a lovely thought?  
"I could show you all my research notes,” she finally said. “We could probably do more experiments over there.”  
There was a bit of silence. She glanced down at him, thinking for a moment that he had fallen asleep in her lap, but his eyes were still open, and they looked almost comically focused, albeit a bit amused.  
“So is that a deal then?” His gaze flickered over with warm mirth. "I'll teach you herding and you'll take me out to study with you?"  
Sweet Hylia, how could she say no to him now?  
His hair was still sprayed around her legs, framing and circling him like a crown of golden silk. When he blinked, his ocean blue gaze reflected off the sunset.  
_We can't really go live in that house._  
It was like so many things now; A nice idea. A pleasant-sounding dream, but she knew that, at least now, they wouldn't be able to go there. Not until she unlocked her powers and sealed the Calamity. Even then, she knew that she'd be thrown right into courting and more expectations, not over her powers, but over her future lineage.  
And she knew that, deep down, such a life would be almost impossible.  
Almost.  
But how she wanted to. She wanted nothing more than to live with him in that Hateno House, to lay in the sun amongst the goldenrod flower beds that Link had told her he planted for her. She wanted to stand beside him in the fields outside of the Village and tend to the hens and the cows that he talked so much about.  
She wanted to work late into the night on her Sheikah research and experiments, and sleep even later into the morning just to rest beside him and listen to him whisper her stories of skirmishes with monsters and Cuccos alike.  
So in the end, she only smiled back down again, her thumb just brushing his forehead as she whispered, so quietly that only he could hear it, "I'd like that a lot."  
By sundown, they'd have to go back inside and return to all those masks and expectations, but for now, for just a little while longer, they could rest here together and dream.


	2. Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda and Link finally get a moment to rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah it's been a hot minute. Have another short little fluff drabble :D

Mornings in her chambers were a secret. A hushed whisper between the two that they kept hidden in the princess's bed between tangled blankets and sleepy kisses. In here, it was just them. Not the princess, not the knight, but Link and Zelda together, and that was something. That was more than he could ever ask for.

There was nothing more to do than to lay beside her, to rest his head on her chest and tangle his legs with hers. There was nothing more that he wanted to do. It was all perfect with just the two of them.

But maybe he was just selfish. Selfish to want to lay here in her arms all morning. Maybe he just wanted to press his face into the crook of her neck and rest his arms around her shoulders, just to listen to the soft sound of her lulling heartbeat for a little while longer.

_That wouldn't surprise me._

But he was here anyway. Here with her, warm and fuzzy and lazy, but that was more than enough. More than he could ever want. Here, there wasn’t any reason to care about his ruffled tunic or his wild hair. Here, it was just them. No guards, no court women, no nobles. Just them. Just him and the princess.

As few and as fleeting as these mornings were these days, he knew that he wouldn't trade them for the world.

Against the sunrise, her hair was almost golden, glowing and bright and drawn together into a half-undone ponytail that tickled his cheek as she moved. Every spare gust of wind from the windowsill made it wisp around her face like a curtain. He could brush his fingers down her hair and part them as if they were a golden stream. If not for his own laziness, he probably would have now, but he was just so warm in her arms that he couldn't even think of moving. He couldn't think of doing much of anything but laying here his legs tangled with hers and his head on her chest, but without a word, she suddenly moved herself up, and he heard only a barely conscious huff before she nuzzled further into the plush cushions.

He smiled. “Good morning.”

For a moment, he thought that she didn't hear him, but after a heartbeat, she raised her head. Her eyes were still lidded, heavy with sleep and warmth, but they seemed to gleam against the sun, and there was the softest ghost of a smile on her face.

"Good morning yourself," she finally said. Her hand found its way up from his shoulders to the back of his head, and before he knew it he felt her fingers gently combing through his hair. Almost instinctively, he leaned into them.

There was an air of sleepy mischief as she asked, "May I ask what you’re doing up so early?"

"It's not early. Sun's already up."

Her only response was a stifled chuckle that bled into a softer yawn. She pressed the side of her head against his, and he thought for a moment that she was about to speak again, but she only hummed.

"Mhmm-" she cut herself off with another yawn. "It's still too early."

He chuckled. For her, maybe, but he had grown up in Hateno and rising at the crack of dawn, hours before the Cuccos was just second nature. He'd probably never grew out of that, but his princess slept far into the morning, nearing the afternoon on those rare days when her father didn't send any guards to wake her up. She'd spend hours just lying there with him, her gaze lidded with sleep, but smiling softly all the same.

"Maybe for you," he finally said, "But the guards are already up."

She huffed. The blankets shifted slightly as she rearranged herself, and this time when she blinked her eyes stayed closed. "It’s not like they'll come to wake us up anytime soon," she murmured. He could see the sun rising from outside the window, still low, but the guards' training must have begun a least an hour ago. Maybe if he listened hard enough, he’d be able to hear them out in the courtyard.

But he’d rather listen to his princess’s heartbeat. He’d rather listen to her soft mumbling and softer voice, if only for a few more hours. His princess, that, by the looks of it, was already dozing back to sleep.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been up all night in the study,” he teased. Her eyes were closed, but he could hear her scoff all the same.

"That's a lot coming from you." Even when she chastised him, he could hear the smile in her voice. He chuckled and buried himself closer into the crook under her neck with a self-satisfied huff as she asked, “How many nights have you spend hunting down chuchus? You practically passed out the second I pulled up the blankets.”

“It's not my fault that you’re so comfortable.”

She scoffed with mock offense. “How scandalous, Sir Knight.” She raised her voice voice in that high, sharp, clicked tone of the courtwomen, but she couldn’t hide her smile and neither could he.

“Apologies, your highness,” he clipped back. He had to pull himself up to get closer to her, but when he did, he kissed her neck.

She pushed him down with a poorly stifled laugh. “You know that you can’t kiss your way out of everything.”

“Why not?”

“Because-” she cut herself off with another laugh as he kissed her chin. And then her cheek, and her neck again, and up to her nose. “Link!”

“What?”

“You’re insufferable.”

Her hair was tangled all around her, wild and frizzy and glowing off the sunset, and her cheeks were flushed with a pale rose. She glanced back up at him with another smile, this one brighter and grinning.

_What have I ever done to deserve this?_

“If it makes you feel better,” he finally said, “I’ll make you another fruit cake tonight.”

She chuckled, pressing another kiss to his forehead. “You spoil me, Sir Knight.” There was a warmth in her voice underneath the morning's laziness. Her nose was flushed red against the chill, and despite himself, he pressed another kiss to it.

“I try my best.”

The softness in her eyes and her voice was almost intoxicating. What he wouldn’t give to lay here forever. Just them, together, with their hair spread out and their legs tangled together, his head against her chest.

“I love you,” she murmured. She brought her hand up to cup the back of his head and comb through his hair, as she always did, and Goddess, that was all that it took for him to just melt in her arms.

“I love you too.”

"So was that it? Was that what you woke me up for?"

“Maybe,” he said with a chuckle.

She huffed. "So I can go back to sleep now?"

"Yes, Princess.”

There was a reason why mornings were spent like this. There was a reason why he could lay here for hours, if for no reason other than to be held and nestled into the crook of her neck. Because at least then they could be here together. At least then he could rest in the arms of the princess that he adored.

That would be more than enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on some actual stuff (much longer than these drabbles) that should be posted by next week, so sorry for these constant breaks lol.  
> Feedback is always appreciated :D

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know what came over me when i wrote this so quickly but hey i had fun. This is my first time writing in a while, so I hope it’s not too rough around the edges.  
> -  
> i have some botw botw fics in the works rn. most of them are oneshots but I'm also working on a canon prequel to botw. feel free to drop any suggestions and I'll see what I can do. any sort of feedback is also greatly appreciated :]


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